Sanctuary for Salmon: Yurok Tribe reacquires, plans to restore Blue Creek land

BLUE CREEK, CA. – It’s an exciting day for the Yurok Tribe – they are celebrating a long-in-the-making reacquisition of the Blue Creek and surrounding land.

The transaction, in partnership with Western Rivers Conservancy, includes 9,000 acres of land within and around the Blue Creek watershed, which runs from the Klamath Mountains and feeds into the Klamath River.

Yurok Tribe is vowing to protect the creek as a sanctuary for salmon – which have seen major drops in population in recent years.

The tribe’s goals include environmental restoration of the area, which was heavily logged over the past century.

This land is also considered “profoundly sacred” and carries significant cultural value to the tribe.

The acquisition process through the Federal New Market Tax Credit Program took nearly a decade.